Lucky Lakers
Comments
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Indiana at #11 would be a good spot for Upshaw too. He either sits behind Hibbert for a year or the Pacers jettison Hibbert and let Upshaw and a cheaper veteran take over.
@Tequilla - This Bleacher Report article lays out why Towns is better. Flag for Bleacher Report if you would like, but it has some good stats that show why Towns' is the smarter pick. Towns' defensive rating led the country. He's a two way player, who can shoot FT's. The only thing Okafor does better is score. Towns' is a better rebounder, shot blocker, and he's a better athlete with a higher ceiling.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2474933-la-lakers-should-take-karl-anthony-towns-over-jahlil-okafor-in-2015-nba-draft -
I think Upshaw's a great flyer for a team to take at the bottom of the first round, but anyone taking him at 11 is batshit crazy. Yeah he could be a top 10 player in this draft. He could also be out of the league in six months.RoadDawg55 said:Indiana at #11 would be a good spot for Upshaw too. He either sits behind Hibbert for a year or the Pacers jettison Hibbert and let Upshaw and a cheaper veteran take over.
@Tequilla - This Bleacher Report article lays out why Towns is better. Flag for Bleacher Report if you would like, but it has some good stats that show why Towns' is the smarter pick. Towns' defensive rating led the country. He's a two way player, who can shoot FT's. The only thing Okafor does better is score. Towns' is a better rebounder, shot blocker, and he's a better athlete with a higher ceiling.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2474933-la-lakers-should-take-karl-anthony-towns-over-jahlil-okafor-in-2015-nba-draft
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Can't get luckier than trading two stiffs to the Cavs for James Worthy. Unless you can manage to trade Gail Goodrich to the Jazz for Magic Johnson.
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It's not the NFL draft where you might not want to take a chance. It's way different. If you have a chance at a true impact guy, you take a chance. The first round contracts are only guaranteed for two years, so it's really not even that big of risk. Chances are, an impact guy isn't getting picked #11.dnc said:
I think Upshaw's a great flyer for a team to take at the bottom of the first round, but anyone taking him at 11 is batshit crazy. Yeah he could be a top 10 player in this draft. He could also be out of the league in six months.RoadDawg55 said:Indiana at #11 would be a good spot for Upshaw too. He either sits behind Hibbert for a year or the Pacers jettison Hibbert and let Upshaw and a cheaper veteran take over.
@Tequilla - This Bleacher Report article lays out why Towns is better. Flag for Bleacher Report if you would like, but it has some good stats that show why Towns' is the smarter pick. Towns' defensive rating led the country. He's a two way player, who can shoot FT's. The only thing Okafor does better is score. Towns' is a better rebounder, shot blocker, and he's a better athlete with a higher ceiling.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2474933-la-lakers-should-take-karl-anthony-towns-over-jahlil-okafor-in-2015-nba-draft
The past ten guys who went #11: Doug McDermott (probable bust, role player at best), Michael Carter-Williams (good pick), Myers Leonard (Some skill, but soft), Klay Thompson (All Star), Cole Aldrich (Bust), Terrence Williams (Bust), Jerryd Bayless (Journeyman), Acie Law (Bust), JJ Redick (good pick), Fran Vasquez (who?). If we go further back we get Andris Biedrins, Michael Pietrus, Jared Jeffries, Kedrick Brown, Jerome Moiso, and Trajan Langdon. Biedrins did well enough to get a large 2nd contract before washing out. Pietrus and Jeffries were role players at best.
4 out of the 16 guys listed are/were good NBA players. I'm being generous and considering Biedrins a good player. 25%. Only one is an All Star. I bet it's likely you could do the same thing with most picks outside the top 5.
Early projections don't think that Upshaw won't go lottery, and I don't necessarily believe he will be picked #11, but if a team thinks he can be a starting center and defensive anchor, history shows it would be FS not to pick him, regardless of his baggage. -
Why do you hate trading Vlade Divac for Kobe APAG?RavennaDawg said:Can't get luckier than trading two stiffs to the Cavs for James Worthy. Unless you can manage to trade Gail Goodrich to the Jazz for Magic Johnson.
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Good research and I'd be interested to see if 11 has just been unlucky or if 10, 12 and 13 have sucked too.RoadDawg55 said:
It's not the NFL draft where you might not want to take a chance. It's way different. If you have a chance at a true impact guy, you take a chance. The first round contracts are only guaranteed for two years, so it's really not even that big of risk. Chances are, an impact guy isn't getting picked #11.dnc said:
I think Upshaw's a great flyer for a team to take at the bottom of the first round, but anyone taking him at 11 is batshit crazy. Yeah he could be a top 10 player in this draft. He could also be out of the league in six months.RoadDawg55 said:Indiana at #11 would be a good spot for Upshaw too. He either sits behind Hibbert for a year or the Pacers jettison Hibbert and let Upshaw and a cheaper veteran take over.
@Tequilla - This Bleacher Report article lays out why Towns is better. Flag for Bleacher Report if you would like, but it has some good stats that show why Towns' is the smarter pick. Towns' defensive rating led the country. He's a two way player, who can shoot FT's. The only thing Okafor does better is score. Towns' is a better rebounder, shot blocker, and he's a better athlete with a higher ceiling.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2474933-la-lakers-should-take-karl-anthony-towns-over-jahlil-okafor-in-2015-nba-draft
The past ten guys who went #11: Doug McDermott (probable bust, role player at best), Michael Carter-Williams (good pick), Myers Leonard (Some skill, but soft), Klay Thompson (All Star), Cole Aldrich (Bust), Terrence Williams (Bust), Jerryd Bayless (Journeyman), Acie Law (Bust), JJ Redick (good pick), Fran Vasquez (who?). If we go further back we get Andris Biedrins, Michael Pietrus, Jared Jeffries, Kedrick Brown, Jerome Moiso, and Trajan Langdon. Biedrins did well enough to get a large 2nd contract before washing out. Pietrus and Jeffries were role players at best.
4 out of the 16 guys listed are/were good NBA players. I'm being generous and considering Biedrins a good player. 25%. Only one is an All Star. I bet it's likely you could do the same thing with most picks outside the top 5.
Early projections don't think that Upshaw won't go lottery, and I don't necessarily believe he will be picked #11, but if a team thinks he can be a starting center and defensive anchor, history shows it would be FS not to pick him, regardless of his baggage.
I'm sure most of those teams thought their picks could be something worthwhile though so I'm not sure thinking Upshaw can be a starting center means it would be FS not to take him. There's probably four or five guys that all those teams think *could* turn into something at that point, the trick is picking the right one.
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@dnc, now I'm curious. Here it is.
#10 - Elfrid Payton (Solid so far, but can't shoot), CJ McCollum (Has a chance), Austin Rivers (Role player at best), Jimmer (Bust), Paul George (All Star), Brandon Jennings (good player), Brook Lopez (Good player, borderline All Star), Spencer Hawes (I detest his game and soft bigs in general, but he did have a few decent years), Mohammud Sene (Bust - Forgot the Sonics took this bum), Andrew Bynum (was an All Star), Luke Jackson (Bust)
Most guys picked #10 have been successful.
#12 - Dario Saric (Hasn't played yet), Steven Adams (good player), Jeremy Lamb (Bust so far), Alec Burks (Decent, nothing special), Xavier Henry (Bust), Gerald Henderson (Decent to good player), Jason Thompson (Journeyman), Thaddeous Young (Good player), Hilton Armstrong (Bust), Yaroslav Korelev (Who?, Huge Bust), Robert Swift (lol)
#12 has been a mixed bag. No All Stars, a couple decent players, a couple busts
#13 - Zach Lavine (Raw talent. IMO a probable bust), Kelly Olynk (Decent), Kendall Marshall (Bust), Markieff Morris (good player), Ed Davis (Journeyman to Bust), Tyler Hansborough (Bust), Brandon Rush (Bust), Julian Wright (Bust), Thabo Sefalosha (Role Player), Sean May (Bust), Sebastian Telfair (Bust)
#13 have been mostly busts. No All Stars.
I still stand by saying that if GM's really believe Upshaw is a lottery talent, you might as well take him in the lottery. If he fucks up, he's gone in two years. And at the recent NBA combine, Upshaw did nothing but help himself by having the tallest standing reach and the biggest hands of anyone there.
I kind of see a parallel with Marcus Peters. Peters was considered toxic for awhile, and his dismissal was supposedly going to cost him millions before his talent won out and he got picked about where he should have. He maybe slipped a little, but not too much. I think ultimately that will happen with Upshaw. -
Today's game is tied to skill ... you have to have offensive skill to be successful.
Towns doesn't wow me as an offensive player. Okafor does.
You are FS if you think that Okafor has maxed out on his talent. That's the most FS thing I've seen on this bored in a long time. -
Most mock drafts (draftexpress, si.com, nbadraft.net, bleacher report) I have seen have Towns going #1.Towns' offensive numbers are pretty good, especially considering how many guys he shared the load with. On a per minute basis he averaged more points than Anthony Davis so to pretend like he wasn't good on offense is FS. He was good, and he shot 81% from the line.Tequilla said:Today's game is tied to skill ... you have to have offensive skill to be successful.
Towns doesn't wow me as an offensive player. Okafor does.
You are FS if you think that Okafor has maxed out on his talent. That's the most FS thing I've seen on this bored in a long time.
I would say big guys that can protect the rim, rebound, and stretch the floor are pretty fucking valuable in today's NBA. Towns offers all of those things.
Okafor's not maxed out, but Towns is a better athlete. The general consensus is that Okafor is more polished, but Towns has a higher ceiling and is a better defender.
How does Okafor have more skill? The only thing Okafor does better is score in the post. Towns did everything else better. He rebounded better, he's a better shooter, he blocked more shots, his defensive rating was better. And he's taller with a slightly larger wing snap.
On a 40 minute comparison, Towns wins in most categories. He rebounded better, he blocked more shots, he averaged more assists, less turnovers. Okafor scored more and had a higher FG percentage.
Are we done here or should I keep going? -
How many times did Towns get double teamed immediately upon catching the ball? Were other teams fearful of his abilities? Was it because there were so many other good players on Kentucky that nobody felt like they could double him?
Why were teams doubling Okafor on the catch almost every single time? Was it because Duke didn't have any other players on their roster?
It's clear that we'll agree to disagree ...
There's a lot of rawness to Okafor's game right now ... but he's got all the skill in the world.
My bet is that Minnesota takes Towns ... and they'll be happy with the pick.
The Lakers will be doing cartwheels with Okafor.
